Shuttle feeler tip



Sept. 18, 1945. E. P. SHEETZ ET AL 2,385,034

SHUTTLE FEELER TIP Filed June 9, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ALEXANDER J.CHAG'M Sept. 18, 1945.

. E. P. SHEETZ ET AL SHUTTLE FEELER TIP Filed June 9, 1944 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Patented Sept. 18, 1945 SHUTTLE FEELER TIP Elwood P.Sheetz, Pembroke, and Alexander J. Chagnon, Pittsfield, N. H.

Application June 9, 1944, Serial .No. 539,440

4 Claims.

This invention relates to a new type of tip for shuttle feelers in loomswhich not only acts as a shuttle feeler, but also which acts to removefrom the path of the shuttle, thread from the outgoing bobbin during atransfer operation and also to engage the thread from an incoming bobbinon the forward beat of the lay following the first pick afterreplenishment and to hold said thread out of the shuttle path.

It is an object of this invention to provide means associated with ashuttle feeler in a loom to prevent loose or surplus threads from beingwoven into the cloth.

It is another object of the invention to provide means in a loom toprevent the occurrence of What is sometimes called a pull-in.

Some of theobjects of the invention having been stated, other objectswill appear as the description proceeds, when taken in connection withthe accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a transverse sectional view through a portion of' a loomshowin the invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is an elevation of the invention;

Figure 3 is a top plan view of the invention showing it attached to theshuttle feeler arm;

Figure 4 is an elevation showing a shuttle feeler arm equipped withanother form of the invention;

shown in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a view similar to Figure 4, but showing a modified form ofthe invention Figure 7 is a top plan view of the feeler tip shown inFigure 6.

Referring more specifically to the drawings, the breast beam of the loomis indicated at l and has fixedly mounted thereon the usual fillingfeeder which comprise two disks or plates to receive, hold, and positionthe spare filling carriers. One of these disks or plates is shown at 2.The hopper stand 3 with its integral casing 4 inclosing the disk 2toward the center of the loom is secured in the usual manner to thebreast beam.

The filling carriers or bobbins are as usual held by their butts andtips by and between the two disks of the hopper or feeder in acircularly arranged series, the seats for the butts being shown at 6 inthe disk 2. The filling carriers are brought one by one into positionfor transfer from the hopper or feeder to the running shuttle by theusual mechanism, such, for example, as illustrated and described in thepatent to Stimpson and Southwick, No. 823,644 granted June 19, 1906. Thefilling replenishing mechanism also Figure 5 is a top plan view of thefeeler tip comprises a transferrer l pivotally mounted at 8 on thehopper stand and operating when depressed or moved downward to transfera filling carrier from the hopper to the shuttle. A notched dog 9 ispivoted at III to the depending arm of the transferrer and upon the callfor filling replenishment is swung upwardly into the path of a hunter II carried by the lay l2, all in a manner well known and familiar in thistype of automatic filling replenishing looms.

The shuttle feeler l3 rocks and slides on the hub I4 and is providedwith a thread catcher IS, the details of which will be presentlydescribed. The shuttle feeler is provided with a usual projecting pin l6projecting from the shank of the feeleryand this pin is engaged by thearm [1 connected to the usual rock shaft l8, and is held against the pinby the spring IS. The dog 9 is operated from the shuttle feeler by meansof the cam slotted arm bolted at 2| to the shuttle feeler. Theconstruction and operation of this mechanism is well known and familiarto those skilled in the art. In the operation of this type of loom whena replenishment of filling is called for, the shaft I8 is rocked in theusual manner raising the arm I! and allowing the shuttle feeler andthread catcher IE to swing toward the lay.

If the shuttle is properly boxed, the feeler will pass in front of theshuttle in the usual manner,

. the dog 9 will be brought into the path of the hunter H, and thetransferrer 1 will be operated in the usual manner to transfer thefilling carrier from the hopper into the shuttle therebeneath. If theshuttle be improperly boxed so that it is struck by the shuttle feeler,or if the shuttle feeler .be restrained in its forward movement so asnot to bring the dog 9 into the path of the hunter I I, transfer of thefilling carrier from the hopper or feeder will not be effected.

Some shuttle feelers have plain ends and others have thread catching andclamping means on the free ends thereof as shown in the patent toRhoades, No. 1,124,527 of January 12, 1915, the purpose of which is notonly to detect if the shuttle is properl boxed, but also to clamp andout the filling of the outgoing filling carrier. Instead of such anarrangement, it is the purpose of this invention to provide a new feelertip for the shuttle feeler adapted to cooperate with a Stafford threadcutter of well known structure as employed on a Draper automatic loom,the details of such thread cutter and associated mechanism being shownin Patents 2,093,696 of September 21, 1937; 1,565,218 and 1,565,219 ofDecember 8, 1925; 2,028,560 of January 21, 1936:

1,768,502 of June 24, 1930; 1,552,388 of September 1, 1925; 1,568,481 ofJanuary 5, 1926.

With a loom equipped with such mechanism as shown in said patents, whena bobbin in the shuttle is nearly empty, it is automatically knockedfrom the shuttle by an incoming bobbin moved from the battery by thetransfer arm. When this operation is taking place, the Stafford threadcutter as shown in said patents, goes into motion, reaching up throughan opening in the front box plate and catching, the thread of the bobbinand holding the same until the temple knife cuts the threads from boththe outgoing and incoming bobbins. Under the present mechanisms asdisclosed in said patents, these out threads even though held by theclamp fall on or are caught on the outgoing shuttle and are pulled intothe cloth. The present invention relates to a new type of tip for ashuttle feeler which not only acts to feel for an improperly boxedshuttle, but also engages and pulls the ends from outgoing bobbins fromthe path of the shuttle and thus prevents these loose ends from beingpulled back into the cloth being woven, and also engages ends fromincoming bobbins and holds them out of the path of the shuttle when saidends are moved forward by an element on the front plate of the shuttlebox such as element 23 of the patent to Burdett No. 1,812,079.

Figures 1, 2, and 3 show the shuttle feeler equipped with the threadcatcher or pull-in eliminator 15, which at one end has a hole 25therethrough and has vertical ribs 26 on one face to fit against oneside of the free end of the shuttle feeler arm I3. A suitable bolt 21has a tapered Washer 28 therearound fitting into the tapered portion ofhole 25, anda nut 29 securely affixes the member 15 to the arm l3.

Instead of a blunt free end, the member 15 has a pointed end 30 with asloping upper face 3i merging with a less steep portion 32, whichterminates with a forwardly sloping and converging notch 33 whichterminates in a transversely disposed enlarged cavity 34. It is to benoted that thepoint of junction of surface 32 and the lefthand wall ofnotch 33 forms a point 35 which is at a greater elevation than the uppersurface 36 of the member l5, so that when the left-hand end of themember I5-passes across the path traveled by the shuttle, the threadwill ride up the inclined surfaces 3| and 32 and rest on the surface 36.Then when the shuttle feeler arm returns towards normal position asshown in Figure 1, the thread will fall into notch 33 and will, becarried along with member I5 to remove it from the path of the-shuttle.

In Figures 4 to 7, inclusive, there is shown a modified form of feelertip and pull-in eliminator. The structure in Figures 6 and 7 being thesame as shown in Figures 4 and 5 except that the overall length of thefeeler tip and pull-in eliminator is less in Figures 6 and 7 than inFigures 4 and 5, to suit the same to a loom havin a longer feeler arm.

' Like reference characters will apply to like parts in Figures 4 to 7as much of the structure has already been described.

The feeler tip and pull-in eliminator 40 shown in Figures 4 to 7 inaddition to the pointed end 30 has a hook 4| on its upper surface, andalso has a finger 42 whose free end is turned upward- 1y to engage theloose threads and guide them onto the surface 43 behind the hook 41 sothat the threads will surely be engaged by the hook 4|.

The incoming ends are also caught in the notch 33 while the shuttlefeeler arm is in withdrawn position as shown in Figure 1 due to the factthat the box has a projection such as noted by reference symbol 28 inPatent No. 1,812,079 projecting upwardly therefrom which engages theincoming ends and moves them over to where they will fall in the notch33 upon oscillation of the lay.

In the drawings and specification, there has been set forth a preferredembodiment of the invention, and although specific terms are employed,they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not forpurposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in theclaims.

We claim:

1. In an automatic loom having means for transferring a filled bobbininto a shuttle and expelling an empty bobbin, and having a shuttlefeeler for moving during a transfer operation across the path travelledby the shuttle, said shuttle feeler having a pointed tip on its free endand having a cavity in its upper surface so that the free end will passbeneath the thread from the outgoing bobbin so it will fall into saidcavity, and upon reverse motion of the shuttle feeler, will pull thesaid thread out of .the path travelled by the shuttle.

2. In an automatic loom having means for transferring a filled bobbininto a shuttle and expelling an empty bobbin, and having a shuttlefeeler for moving during a transfer operation across the path travelledby the shuttle, said shuttle feeler havin a pointed tip on its free endand having a cavity in its upper surface so that the free end will passbeneath the thread from the outgoing bobbin so they will fall into saidcavity, and upon reverse motion of the shuttle feeler, will pull thesaid thread out of the path travelled by the shuttle, the tip portion ofthe shuttle feeler having a finger rising therefrom and projecting aboveand past said cavity and having its free end upturned so as to guide thethread beneath the finger and into said cavity.

3. In a loom having a shuttle feeler arm, a member mounted on the freeend of the arm and adapted to traverse the path travelled by the shuttleand to pass beneath the thread extending along the lay from the shuttle,said member having an upwardly sloping free end and also having a hookand cavity on its upper free end for engaging the thread extending fromthe shut tle and removing the thread from the path travelled by theshuttle.

4. A loom having a shuttle feeler pivoted at one end for swingingmovement and having its other end provided with a notch and hook on itsupper surface so that when the feeler swings, its free end will moveacross the path of the shuttle and engage the thread extending from theshuttle and upon reverse swinging movement will withdraw said threadfrom the path of the shuttle.

ELWOOD P. SHEETZ. ALEXANDER J. CI-IAGNON.

